SHOTTISHAM, SUFFOLK

Shottisham was one of a number of Suffolk villages engaged in the coprolite work in the late 1850s. When it first started is uncertain but it was certainly in operation by 1858. (Mem.Geol.Surv. Mineral Statistics, HMSO.(1860),p.375) The local trade directory for that year also referred to it when it reported, "The parish is rich in antediluvian shells and fossils; the coprolites are also dug here." (Kelly's Directory 1858) Who was involved is unknown. The 1861 census gave no indication. Where it proved economic, local farmers and landowners would have had the deposit raised and sold the washed fossils to manure manufacturers in Ipswich and elsewhere.